Safety attachment for hand-bags.



E. E. ROGERS.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR HAND BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED mum, 1916.

l 1 92,564, Patented July 25, 1916.

WITNESSES 0 INVENTOR A TTOH/VEYS my NOR/H5 Paws ca PHOIO-LVYHO WASRINGIUN. n c

EDWARD E. ROGERS,

OF NEW YORK,

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR HAND-BAGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1%16.

Application filed January 28, 1916. Serial No. 74,777.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD E. ROGERS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of the Bronx, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Safety Attachment for Hand-Bags, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to ladies hand bags and has particular reference to an at tachment adapted to render it practically impossible for the hand bag to be surreptitiously opened without detection, but not interfering materially with the proper opening thereof.

Among the objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide a loop fixed to one of the jaws of the bag and having slidable engagement along or over the handle or strap connected to the other jaw, the arrangement being such that with the strap hung over the owners arm the loop will cooperate with the strap in such a way that the jaws cannot be opened without detection, but when the strap is removed from the arm for the proper opening of the bag, the strap will glide freely through the loop so as not to interfere with the full opening of the hand bag.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hand bag indicating my improvement attached thereto, the bag being partially open; Fig. 2 is an end elevation with the parts substantially in the position they occupy when the bag is suspended from the owners arm; and Fig. 3 is an end view, partly in section, on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I show a hand bag 10 having a pair of relatively fixed and movable jaws 11 and 12 respectively, these terms being adopted for convenience of description but without intending to limit the invention in any manner unnecessarily. The fixed jaw has a catch 13 with which a projection 14 of the movable jaw cooperates, but any other well known form of temporary fastener may be employed for the purpose of holding the jaws closed. The handle or strap 15 is shown connected by rings 16 to the movable jaw 12 as heretofore, but the loose portion of the strap is threaded slidably through a pair of loops 17 pivoted upon rigid vertical supports 18 secured to the fixed jaw opposite the rings 16 of the movable jaw. The loops 17, when the bag is hanging from the owners arm, occupy a position closely adjacent or over the rings 16 or close to the ends of the handle or strap. lVhile the bag is thus held on the arm there is no possibility for it to be opened surreptitiously without detection for the reason that there is sufficient looseness in the strap to permit the jaws to separate even though the ordinary fasteners 18 and 14 be loosened. W hen, however, the bag is removed from the arm the bag may be opened in the usual manner without special eifort or inconvenience, since the strap when loose will be free to slide along the loops 1'? when the operator holds the keeper 13 in one hand and draws upon the tab 19 with the other hand, this constituting the operation for the ordinary opening of the hand bag. Irrespective, however, of the conventional type of temporary fastener employed to hold the jaws together, the act of manipulation of the same will suliice to open the bag when the strap is loose.

In addition to the utility of the loops 17 cooperating with the strap to prevent the bag being opened by a pickpocket, the arrangement shown will serve as a practical means for holding the bag closed temporarily independently of the fasteners 13 and 1 1, as, for instance, when a lady desires to open the bag to take out a purse or handkerchief for temporary use, with the bag suspended from the strap upon her arm, she need not be particular about the closing and locking of the bag for the reason that the weight of the bag hanging upon the strap upon her arm will automatically cause the jaws to come together or suliiciently closely together for temporary safety until the purse or handkerchief be returned to its place and it is desired to close the bag permanently.

I claim:

1. In a hand bag, the combination of relatively fixed and movable aWs, an arm strap having its ends connected to one of the jaws, and a pair of loops loosely pivoted to the other jaw opposite the points of connection between the strap and the first mentioned jaw, the strap being slidable through said loops with the opening and closing of the ba g.

2. In a hand bag, the combination of a pair of jaws movable toward and from each other, means to lock the jaws closed, a flexible arm strap, a pair of rings connecting the ends oftlie strap to one of the jaws, rigid vertical supports secured to the other jaw opposite the rings, and a pair of loops 15 pivotally connected to said supports, and through which the end portions of the strap are slidable, said loops being adapted to engage over the rings when the bag is sus- Copies of this patent may be obtained for fix re cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

